“Even at warp drive, it's (at least) 75 days” to get ready for an election without the complication of redistricting, he said. “Even April 17 is doubtful,” he said about an alternative date offered by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott on Monday.

County election officials can't start getting ready for the election until the interim maps are finalized, and no one knows when that is going to happen.

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“For the election officials, they start their day and end their day on the internet,” tracking the latest developments in redistricting, said Jacquelyn Callanen, Bexar County elections administrator. “It's all-consuming.”

She jokingly added: “I've spent some days curled up under my desk.”

Once the maps are finalized, county officials set the election machinery into motion: redrawing precinct lines to accommodate district changes, printing new voter registration cards for every voter, setting up the ballots, programming the voting machines, mailing absentee ballots at least 45 days before the election, and setting up polling places.

Also, the Bexar County elections staff still has to prepare for the spring school board and bond elections.

“This other election is on a train track that's moving at its normal pace,” Callanen said.

The Texas redistricting battle is being closely monitored in Washington, D.C., because changes to the map that make districts more favorable for Democrats could affect the balance of power in the U.S. House.

And while most of the attention has been paid to the congressional map, Texas is still without interim redistricting maps for the Texas House and Senate.

The San Antonio federal court charged with drawing the state's interim redistricting maps has scheduled a hearing for Feb. 15 to further discuss what changes the judges should make to the state's maps.